Best HAMBURGERS in the Bay Area (sequel to pizza thread :)

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Old 05-15-2009, 02:34 AM
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Barney's is good. the one time i went to Darla's I thought they were all right. as for chains, the one and only time i went to Ruby Tuesday's i thought they were really good.

for anyone that is going to Reno, you gotta go to the Nugget Diner. not Nugget's, but Nugget near downtown and try the Awful Awful Burger. it's a bit ghetto there, definitely not your typical big casino. 6 bucks for a half pound burger and about half pound of fries. http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-nugget-r...:awful%20awful

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Old 05-15-2009, 03:29 AM
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From personal experience....

Val's is pretty good. The meat's great, cooked perfectly, that's about it. The rest you can't really f-up. Lately, the place that my friends and I have been hitting up quite often. Jack's Prime on El Camino in San Mateo. I had the "Wine Country" burger and it was AWESOME. I've had the Phoenix and that was a good one. The "All Day Breakfast" is one to at least try once. I've had really good burgers from Pearl's Deluxe Burgers in San Francisco. Great after hittin' up Crazy Horse for dudes night out. LOL. My favorite "sit down" chain is Red Robin. Great variety, consistent, and unlimited fries. Then In-n-Out is one of my favorites. I've yet to try one of the Fat Burger locations up here (or just...that "one"), but I've had it in Las Vegas, good stuff. I need to check out The Counter. Man, LA gets most of the dope fast food joints like Tommy Burger and The Hat (pastrami burger!). I am definitely sure there's more that are lesser known. I just forgot the names.

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Old 05-15-2009, 03:34 AM
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Believe it or not, the regular burger at the cheese cake factory is probably the best burger I've ever had.
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Old 05-15-2009, 06:19 AM
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Guys,

I'm thinking maybe you don't go to places that grind their own meat (not their personal meat) using steak meat ... Those are the best places to get a burger IMHO, no other taste quite like it.

1. Luka's in Oakland (used to be a hof Brau).
2. Joe's Cable Car (if it's still open).
3. Barney's (pricey).

Those places grind their own steak meat every morning for hamburger and it's good...I wish the bread were as good...but they all make a super burger, there is also a very small place in downtown Sausalito that grinds their own beef too, but I don't think they do it every morning, some quality control issues from being quite as perfect as the 3 I just listed, but they are cheaper...rats, can't recall the name

Oh, I just realized the best burger probably comes with smex...which I wouldn't know about

Last edited by AntiochCali; 05-15-2009 at 06:24 AM.
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Old 05-15-2009, 07:45 AM
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Originally Posted by Rescuer
Val's in Hayward

I don't like how they charge you for everything. You want tomato, onions or lettuce? okay sure that will be extra.
For what you're paying for I think it's a tad overpriced.

I've had Bob's Giant Burgers in Fremont off of Fremont Blvd and I gotta say, it was pretty good for the price.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/bobs-giant-b...remont-fremont
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Old 05-15-2009, 07:45 AM
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+1 for Val's

Christopher's in Rockridge on college is good as well. They grind their meat fresh daily.

Luka's does have really good burgers, but Val's is still better and you can get 3 burgers for the price of one at Luka's
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Old 05-15-2009, 07:51 AM
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Dude, Ryan, lets go to Val's.
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Old 05-15-2009, 07:56 AM
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+1 for Val's and 1/4lb in Hayward, I grew up a fat kid because of them.

Isn't there a place in SF that grinds their own burger meat from steaks or something? I remember seeing it on that Food Network show Diners Drive-ins and Dives. Speaking of that show, they had Squeeze Inn out in Sacramento a month or so ago. Place wound up having half hour-hour long waits the next day/week long after that.
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Old 05-15-2009, 07:59 AM
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Cheesecake factory grinds their burgers from steak.. you can get a kobe burger too, but seems like a waste.
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Old 05-15-2009, 08:26 AM
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+45,000!

Vals!
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Old 05-15-2009, 08:53 AM
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Originally Posted by AntiochCali
Guys,

I'm thinking maybe you don't go to places that grind their own meat (not their personal meat) using steak meat ... Those are the best places to get a burger IMHO, no other taste quite like it.

1. Luka's in Oakland (used to be a hof Brau).
2. Joe's Cable Car (if it's still open).
3. Barney's (pricey).

Those places grind their own steak meat every morning for hamburger and it's good...I wish the bread were as good...but they all make a super burger, there is also a very small place in downtown Sausalito that grinds their own beef too, but I don't think they do it every morning, some quality control issues from being quite as perfect as the 3 I just listed, but they are cheaper...rats, can't recall the name

Oh, I just realized the best burger probably comes with smex...which I wouldn't know about


The Kirks I use to go to ground up sirloin at their location. This was the one off Bascom, not sure if all them do the same?
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Old 05-15-2009, 08:57 AM
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Originally Posted by Batto
+1 for Val's and 1/4lb in Hayward, I grew up a fat kid because of them.

Isn't there a place in SF that grinds their own burger meat from steaks or something? I remember seeing it on that Food Network show Diners Drive-ins and Dives. Speaking of that show, they had Squeeze Inn out in Sacramento a month or so ago. Place wound up having half hour-hour long waits the next day/week long after that.
Joe's Cable Car was on Triple D earlier this year. Some diner on that show in the midwest copied the Squeeze Inn's burger style after seeing it on TV. They named the burger the "Sacramento". I must say, throwing a handful of ice and covering up the burger to create that flat crispy layer of cheese is pretty genius.
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Old 05-15-2009, 08:58 AM
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I as well ground up my own meat when ever I go to BBQs, just ask Bryan(*****), Jen(Gibz) and Aaron(international B) how my burgers are


Guess I should say before any sick talk starts, i'm a meat cutter.
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Old 05-15-2009, 09:03 AM
  #44  
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88 Burger in Pine Grove Ca, (on hwy 88 bout 20 min past Jackson)
If your headed up to Kirkwood check'em out.
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Old 05-15-2009, 09:46 AM
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Originally Posted by brucelee
Believe it or not, the regular burger at the cheese cake factory is probably the best burger I've ever had.
I had one on Monday and it was good.
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